PROJECT TRACKER: Rebuilding Taunton City Hall

This week, police used plastic ties to attach orange no-parking signs to what used to be parking meters in the area of the Leonard Block/Star Theater building at 107-111 Main St.

Days since fire: 1,295

The detailsOfficials say an arsonist set the fire the morning of Aug. 17, 2010, that resulted in the closure of City Hall at 15 Summer St. To date, no one has been arrested for the crime.

The fire was set in the fourth-floor attic of the historic site, located across from Church Green. Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, but much of the building’s interior suffered extensive water damage as a result.

Since then, Taunton has operated a temporary City Hall in what was formerly Lowell M. Maxham School at 141 Oak St.

No one was injured in the fire.

The progressThis week, police used plastic ties to attach orange no-parking signs to what used to be parking meters in the area of the Leonard Block/Star Theater building at 107-111 Main St.

The Star sits directly next to City Hall and is set to be demolished to facilitate the repair and renovation of City Hall. A housing court judge in September ordered former owner Michael O’Donnell to relinquish ownership to the city.

The no-parking signs are a precursor to the re-routing of traffic past the dilapidated, four-story Star Theater. Violators will be issued a $15 ticket.

Rhode Island-based BETA engineering group is conducting a pre-demolition survey to provide a guideline for safely demolishing the Star.

Mayor Thomas Hoye Jr. confirmed that the city submitted a request to the state’s Division of Capital Asset Management Capital on Friday for a waiver of the public procurement process, in order to shorten the time it will take to begin demolition.

BETA, according to senior associate Alan Hanscom, has performed a hazardous materials assessment in the Star to determine levels of asbestos contamination, especially in the basement area.

Two contractors, he said, will eventually be hired — one which will abate, or dispose of, the contamination and the other to knock down the building.

Hanscom said if DCAM grants the waiver it will speed up the process by four to six weeks, by allowing the city to bypass the usual routine of placing bid-proposal advertisements. The city, he said, instead would be able to directly hire a qualified contractor of its choice.

Hoye said the waiver request is appropriate, especially in light of the potential danger of allowing the Star Theater to remain standing any longer than necessary.

“It’s a public nuisance and a safety hazard,” Hoye said.

Estimates to repair City Hall have ranged from $15 million to $23 million.

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